


Smiler

by softestlad



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Embarrassment, Family Fluff, Flirting, Fluff, M/M, Romantic Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, soft moments
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-03
Updated: 2019-09-03
Packaged: 2020-10-06 05:40:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20501798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softestlad/pseuds/softestlad
Summary: Aaron loves his husband's smiles. All of them.fluffy not-quite a 5+1 fic on Aaron's favourite smiles from Robert.





	Smiler

**Author's Note:**

> who doesn't need a smile rn, amirite?

It had been said, even by Robert himself, that he had a face made for punching. Smug and sly, beautiful enough to put the itch in someone’s fists to rough it up. But none of those people were married to Robert. Aaron was. And Aaron knew the truth of it – Robert had a face for smiling, and a smile for every occasion.

**FLIRT**

Aaron couldn’t help getting a _little _competitive with these things. The five-a-side games were just a bit of fun, and he couldn’t really give a toss about the prize money for the league that Bear was hankering after. Truthfully anything Bear was interested in instantly became dull to Aaron. Probably a protective instinct kicking in so he never got stuck in a conversation with Paddy’s father for more than a minute flat. That was about his limit.

But even so, Aaron had a runner’s heart (pounding), and it was good to hang about with some lads he wasn’t married or related to. He shouted to Pete, who kicked the ball over to him. Aaron felt movement beside him as someone from the other team came in for a tackle, but he manoeuvred around him, curling his foot around the ball, scooping it along with him as he raced up the last little bit of the pitch and –

“GO ON LAD,” Ellis yelled clear up from his defender’s position as Aaron’s foot made sharp contact with the ball. Smack, sail, swish.

Back of the net.

Aaron only had time to pump his fist – low and modest, he was satisfied, not a showboat – when everyone piled onto his back, hands slapping his chest, ruffling his sweaty hair. The whistle blew, the match over, and they had it. 2-1.

Aaron made his way over to the sidelines, grabbing up his waterbottle and wiping the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. He took a few gulps before tossing it lightly back to the grass, nodding gratefully when someone shouted their congrats at him, then bent over to take off his shin guards.

A wolf whistle sounded from behind him.

Aaron straightened up sharply, spinning on his heel, then stopped.

“Ain’t you meant to be in Leeds?” he asked his husband, surprised to see him. Glad though. Always glad. Robert took a few ambling steps forward, in no hurry as he ran his eyes over Aaron, sheened in sweat, chest still puffing a bit from the exercise.

“And miss the view? Hardly.” Robert swayed toward him, still suited up and looking delectable. “Client’s daughter’s got a tummy bug, he had to go early.”

“Try not to sound so happy about a sick child in public, eh Robert?” Aaron teased. Robert stepped closer still, swaying gently and – there it was. A little crooked, slow, and accompanied by heavy glances. That smile.

“Hard not to be happy with such a fit husband,” he replied. “Beautiful goal for a beautiful man.”

Aaron huffed, glancing at his feet, glad that his face being pinkened wasn’t especially incriminating after running around the pitch for the last hour. Robert’s smile crooked up just a titch more though, like he knew that some of that flush was just for him.

“You tryin’ to pull or sommat?” Aaron said, gruffly.

“Just stating the facts,” Robert held his hands up, eyebrows raised, but still with that tilting, coy smile. He leaned in, close and confidential, and Aaron couldn’t help but match him, sway for sway, his own mouth pulling at the corners. “Wouldn’t say no though. If you’ve energy left to burn that is?”

Aaron’s eyes dropped to Robert’s sly smile, then back up.

“Spose so,” he said, reaching out to grab his kit bag. He zipped it closed. “Warming down’s pretty important.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Aaron confirmed, blasé as he tossed his bag over one shoulder, walking away backwards, a jaunt in his step. “And stretching. Very, very important is stretching.”

Robert’s eyes darkened over that flirty grin. Aaron turned and walked off the field, looking forward to scoring twice in a day.

**PRIDE**

“I told you you’d do it,” Robert bragged. “Brilliant tutor like me, you had it in the bag.”

“Congrats on passing _my _exams Rob,” Liv rolled her eyes, sharing a knowing look with Aaron. “Sorry I didn’t get you a card.”

“Forgiven,” Robert said magnanimously, pulling out his wallet and holding out a few bob to her, “If you go get me some crisps.”

“Why can’t you go yourself? Big ‘ead weighing you down?”

“Not as much as your big gob,” he said, shaking the cash at her. Liv swiped it from his hand, clambering off the pop-up-pub bench. “Get yourself some as well, you did do some of the work after all.”

Liv fake laughed before turning to wander over to Charity.

“Good thing she loves you,” Aaron commented, sipping his pint. “You being such a massive wind up.”

“Yeah well. Little sisters,” Robert offered on a shrug. “Looks like my crisps have been waylaid.” Aaron looked over to see Liv had been intercepted by Jacob. He had complicated feelings about that friendship – or whatever it was now, or going to be – much like he imagined Liv did. He just had to let her get on with it, he supposed. Not like his mum screeching down his ear canal about Robert had deterred him any, and whatever else happened he didn’t want Liv feeling like she had to hide that stuff from him.

Though if she thought that manbun was going to pass without comment…

Aaron looked over at Robert, on the edge of making said comment, when he stopped.

Robert was glowing. Eyes fixed on Liv and crinkled deeply at the corners, his cheeks rounded over his broad smile. His lips were pink and smooth, hair catching the sunlight at the highest peaks of blonde. He’d never looked prouder, absolutely stuffed with it.

“She’s done so well,” he said, “Not long ago now she was in bits. Young Offenders, the drinking. She’s turned it all around though and worked so, so hard. Absolute fighter.”

Aaron only managed to hold onto his breath by the tail when Robert turned that radiant pride on him. It was intoxicating, warming. Utterly necessary in a life worth living.

“Just like her brother,” Robert said.

That smile was sunshine.

**QUIET**

They didn’t have enough Sundays like this.

The window was open, ruffling the curtains lightly, the first bit of light for the day coming in on the breeze. Aaron’s limbs were heavy, curled up on his side facing Robert, his hands on his husband’s chest, calloused fingertips on freckled skin. They were sleep-warm and comfortable, and Robert’s palm rested solidly on Aaron’s waist, his thumb stroking back and forth across Aaron’s ribs.

They stared at each other, legs intertwined. Aaron watched Robert smile, in the tiniest of ways. The corners of his mouth tucked in rather than lifting up, forehead smooth of lines. The smallest change in the angle of his eye, the sweep of his lashes after each slow blink.

This was what being loved felt like. Warm.

**LAUGH**

Aaron stormed out, face absolutely flaming.

“Aaron, it’s alright!” Aaron ignored Robert, the sound of his shoes slapping the pavement the only indication that he was following.

“Just shut up Robert.”

“It’s not a big deal though, you shouldn’t be embarrassed.”

“Eh, pretty sure I should be,” Aaron scoffed, clicking the keys for the car and hearing the click-click-beep of sanctuary. “Pretty sure you should be n’all.”

Aaron climbed into the car, gripping his hands on the steering wheel like if he held it the right way maybe it’d take him back in time before this cringing feeling settled in his gut. The jolt of Robert’s weight as he sat down made the car bob, and he hadn’t even finished pulling the door closed before he was unabashedly shooting his mouth off again.

“I’m not ashamed of kissing my husband,” Robert said primly.

“I’m not _ashamed_, you div.” Aaron rubbed at his eyebrow, an instant headache brewing, eyes lifted to the car ceiling.

“Tell your face then,” Robert crossed his arms.

“Sorry, how exactly do you want me to react? I must have missed the pamphlet on dealing with this situation.”

“You’re blowing this way out of proportion.”

“Out of – Robert.” Aaron swivelled to stare, bewildered at his husband’s nonchalance. “Some spotty teenager just caught us going at it in the back of the cinema, and you think I’m _blowing it out of proportion_? We’re adults! It’s embarrassing!”

“Well if they didn’t want people to make their own fun in the theatre they should put on something worth seeing, shouldn’t they? Can’t believe we paid the price of admission for me to get into your trousers, we could have done that for free at home.” Robert threw up his hands, now matching Aaron, pink cheek for pink cheek.

The air in the car stilled. Their eyes connected.

They burst out laughing. Peals of it, the situation was ridiculous – _they _were ridiculous. If anything it was the ticket taker who was the most mortified, stammeringly asking them to take it elsewhere, that it wasn’t “that kind of theatre.” Aaron wheezed, catching his breath as more laughs stuttered out. Robert cackled, head thrown back, with no apparent idea what to do with his hands. Aaron’s breath caught again, though it had more to do with the shape of that mouth around joy, the freedom of the sound. Their laughter settled, and Robert wiped a tear from his eye.

“What?” he asked, when he saw Aaron gazing at him.

“Nowt,” Aaron said, shaking his head fondly. He toyed with the keys. It wasn’t so bad really. Married, grown ups, whatever – the way they wanted each other was ever present and inescapable. Not that Aaron would ever want to escape it, the echo of Robert’s laughter still dancing in his ears. “Let’s get home. You can finish getting into my trousers.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Aaron started the car, twisting to toss an arm around the back of Robert’s seat and reverse out of their spot. He paused.

“Not a word about this to Liv.”

“Obviously,” Robert scoffed a last laugh, a twinkle in his eye. “One teenager shining a torch in my face is enough for one day.”

-

Aaron could cycle through all these smiles easily, like flipping through a photo album. Though the best one – in his considered opinion – wasn’t one anyone else could experience.

It was the one pressed to his own. Every time.


End file.
